I'm happy with my team - I haven't picked a single current player.In fact, except for Harris and Bishop, my team is full of truly old players - Lindsay being the next "youngest" (and he last played in 1969-70!).

Yet, I've managed a team with a serious combination of flair, courage & grit, entertainment - and most importantly, an ability to bat in treacherous batting conditions too. Skill and perseverance, too, of course.

In making these selections, I must admit I have let my biases creep in. What's a draft, if not a reflection of your biases? :-)

For example, I respect batsmen who had to bat in the pre-helmet era. Every one of my batsmen belongs in that category.Similarly, I respect bowlers (esp quicks) who've had to bowl at fully-protected batsmen. Respect for Bishop and Harris goes up due to this.

Am not impressed by batsmen who get loads of runs on roads. Or against weak attacks. This was on my mind all along - which is why I didn't pick any batsman of the 1960s (except for Lindsay, who is my keeper). The 1960s is considered as a decade with relatively poor bowling attacks around the world.

There's one player I'd have liked to have picked - I had him well in my mind but at the last minute picked another guy. Strangely, that guy hasn't been picked yet! :-)

Analysing player by player (one can always read up on the net, I'm just throwing my own thoughts here) :

1) Trumper: Any knowledgeable cricket fan will tell you Trumper, possibly along with Hobbs, was probably the finest batsman on tricky wickets, well ahead of Bradman. In fact, he excelled in difficult conditions.

2) Merchant: I've always had a bias for players who can bat with the back to the wall - and Vijay Merchant was one such. Batting in England, whether against Verity & co in 1936 or Bedser & co in 1946, Merchant stood tall - and I'm very happy to have him in my side. That he has a first-class average of 71 (next only to Bradman's) is proof of how difficult he was to dismiss. Having said that, I don't place too much emphasis on stats - I'd rather go by what I read of a player, and accounts of the times he played in.

3) Bill Edrich: A fighter, who took blows on his body. I wanted such a player in my side. Very useful medium-pace bowler too.

4) Charles Macartney: Magic. I picked him rather late - am surprised nobody picked him earlier. In fact, I expected him to go at the same time that McCabe was picked. But probably his 41-average didn't look convincing enough. :-) Also a very useful slow left-arm bowler.

5) Phil Mead: He was my last batsman-pick. I was almost certain he would go under the radar - so he was a pretty safe bet. Prolific - and could have played much more than just his 17 Tests. Another very difficult batsman to dismiss.

6) Aubrey Faulkner: A great all-rounder who deserved to be better-known. Had he been from England or Australia he would've been better-known. But South Africa, that too in his time (100 years ago), didn't get written about much, thanks to Ashes craze. Besides, it was a very weak side at the time - which only makes Faulkner's achievements even more remarkable. And his googly/leg-break bowling was more than just useful.

7) Monty Noble (capt): My captain. Could bat, bowl, field, captain. Read up on him - it was a toss-up between him and Armstrong, I decided to go with him only because of his consistent performance. And probably superior bowling. Besides, he played in a time when runs were more difficult to come by, so his batting average of 30 (as compared to Armstrong's 38) has to be seen in that context.

8) Denis Lindsay (wk): Excellent keeper-batsman. When the opposition team sees Lindsay come in at No. 8, it's bound to feel disheartened. He could, and did, destroy attacks. As has been said, he was good enough to be in the side as just a batsman or just a keeper. I picked him as my no11 pick (a surprised he wasn't picked earlier). Was a bit of a risk to take, but I thought I might get away with it.

9) Ian Bishop : I'll admit I had rubbished him in an earlier draft (Verity had picked him). But that's part of draft trolling. :-) Bishop has a pretty good record in all countries he's played - including Pakistan. He didn't get to play against India in India. And he was genuinely quick - so that's not bad.

10) Ryan Harris: Nothing much to say here - we all know Rhino. Every captain wants a guy like him in his side. He'll keep going, he won't let you down. Even when Austrlia was having ups and down with its attack, blow hot - blow cold types, the one guy who consistently gave me hope in their attack was Rhino. Wicket-taking guy, he troubled batsmen no end. My picking him here is more like a tribute to him than anything else.

11) Sydney Barnes: They say, you should sometimes leave the best for the last. Well, doesn't apply here - not with the likes of Trumper at the top of the order but Barnes is considered right up there as THE best Test bowler ever, if you had to name just one bowler. Read up on him. :-)

Ironically the one batsman who played him better than anyone else was Trumper - and he too is in my side. :-)

By the way, Barnes wasn't THAT bad a batsman either - so that's makes my batting just that wee bit more annoying for the opposition.

Lastly, I just want to say the main reason for taking part in this draft is to have fun, and to throw in names of lesser-known cricketers. Paying tribute to them, in a sense. Much more fun than having a draft with the usual names. :-)

So I thank Ted for setting this draft up and running it.

Whether I win or not, whether my team is appreciated or not, is all secondary. Just being able to pick my childhood heroes like Trumper, Macartney and Noble feels special.

Well. When you are picking a team for your satisfaction don't expect it to be liked by all as your personal emotional pick might not be liked by all. When you are picking guys who played 100 years ego, very little info available and most have not played enough matches to make an opinion. Often You need to go by gut instinct. Your guts are different from others. So don't try to impress or expect all to like them too. Be prepared to be the last.

Going South wrote:Well. When you are picking a team for your satisfaction don't expect it to be liked by all as your personal emotional pick might not be liked by all. When you are picking guys who played 100 years ego, very little info available and most have not played enough matches to make an opinion. Often You need to go by gut instinct. Your guts are different from others. So don't try to impress or expect all to like them too. Be prepared to be the last.

I've absolutely no expectation that my picks should be liked by anyone. Am not trying to impress anyone.

Going South wrote:Well. When you are picking a team for your satisfaction don't expect it to be liked by all as your personal emotional pick might not be liked by all. When you are picking guys who played 100 years ego, very little info available and most have not played enough matches to make an opinion. Often You need to go by gut instinct. Your guts are different from others. So don't try to impress or expect all to like them too. Be prepared to be the last.

For future draft Dead player should not picks plus if we pick for test, it should be 55 test instead 50 so more opportunity for new whole lot players who are alive and not dead.

I am not much impress with yester year greats because no way you can take 2000 or 2700 wickets in FC plus makes that many runs unless either you playing tons of cricket or not follows cricket rules.

Whoa. Another Shameless boycott plug sighted. You would sure can link a comment on trump presidency to boycott for sure.

Misty next test draft would be totally different from this one. Trust me on that. We should not do same draft too often. Wait for at least 6 months for the next test format draft.

PS: During champions trophy there would be currently ACTIVE T20 player draft that I plan to run myself. You can pick young kids with potential who has not even started their international career too if you like them & wish to add. Stay tuned.

You must need specialist batsman because your team not well balance batting wise,i think Goodwin is your weak link otherwise Barnes (batsman) and Turner good but you need Lehmann at 3 though he never bats at 3 for Australia.

Your middle order so/so,Goodwin always bats at 4 in test for Zimbabwe.F.Engineer and Armstrong your strength in number 6 and 7.your team very well balance in bowling department.

You must need specialist batsman because your team not well balance batting wise,i think Goodwin is your weak link otherwise Barnes (batsman) and Turner good but you need Lehmann at 3 though he never bats at 3 for Australia.

Your middle order so/so,Goodwin always bats at 4 in test for Zimbabwe.F.Engineer and Armstrong your strength in number 6 and 7.your team very well balance in bowling department.

I think Goodwin is someone people will have to take a chance on as he didn't have a huge opportunity to show his talent at international level.

I do have a specialist planned for my final pick. Not fully decided on my batting order at the moment. We will see how it goes

A supple, wristy, resolute batsman, Basil Butcher became a consistently reliable performer at No. 4 or 5 in the West Indies order. In his first Test series, against India in 1958-59, he made 486 runs at 69.42, but had a chequered career thereafter, until the 1963 tour of England, when he made 383 runs in eight completed innings, including 133 out of 229 in the memorable draw at Lord's. During an interval in that match he opened a letter which advised him that (against a background of civil war) his wife had had a miscarriage back home in Guyana. Very upset, Butcher continued to play a solid and masterly innings which saved his side. Two fine series against Australia led Richie Benaud to consider him the most difficult of all West Indians to get out. An occasional legspinner himself, the only Test wickets Butcher took were all in one innings - 5 for 34 (four coming in three overs) against England at Port-of-Spain in 1967-68.

I selected ANDREW JONES 39 test 2922 runs with healthy 44.27, averages, he hits 7 test hundred and 11 test 50's, his average in First class cricket was near 42, Jones also outstanding Fielder and great batsman with 25half century in ODI for newzeland.

He and martin Crowe put on 467 in partnership in test, was stand for highest partnership for many more years in test cricket

Success came late for Andrew Jones who was almost 28 - and on his third province - when he won his first cap for New Zealand, and even then it wasn't a dream debut as his laboured 45 at Brisbane hardly impressed many in the media. But he settled into a solid No. 3 and his courage and tremendous powers of concentration won his critics over and his final Test record - 2922 runs at 44.27 - put him up among the best. And those statistics are even more impressive when it is observed that New Zealand won only six of his 39 Tests. His style was certainly not always orthodox, especially against the short ball where he developed a jumping technique which was often ungainly but usually effective. He might have been a purist's nightmare, but he was ruthless when set: five of his seven hundreds - all of which came in drawn Tests - were in excess of 140. That included his Test-best 186 against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1990-91, when he and Martin Crowe added 467, at the time a Test record for any wicket.

Last edited by Misty on Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Trent Boult is a left-arm quick who presents a significant threat to batsmen around the world with an ability to move the ball both ways even in unresponsive conditions. Signs of his skill were evident even as a teenager. As a 17-year old, he was named the fastest secondary school bowler in the country. A year later, he was representing New Zealand at the Under-19 World Cup. By 2015, he was capable of long spells without wavering too far below the 140kph mark. He became one of New Zealand's irreplaceable players across formats and one of many protagonists in the side's march to their first World Cup final in 2015.His effectiveness in Test cricket was too compelling to ignore: he raced past 100 wickets in his 29th match and in 2013, only two years since his debut, he was New Zealand's top-wicket taker.

Boult's strength, according to Northern Districts coach John Pamment, is that, "he's got a lovely wrist position and the fact that the wrist goes right behind the ball gives him that control." Another asset for Boult is friend and sounding board Tim Southee. When on song, their partnership makes for compelling viewing, not to mention telling numbers. In 2014, the pair picked up nearly half the wickets New Zealand took - 67 of 143 - en route to the side's most successful Test year, with five wins in nine matches. Boult is also among the few fast bowlers who are exceptional fielders, and has a particular knack for one-handed blinders.

With this I got truly international side, unlike some of you who came up with all white racist ashes XI.

Before I list the players, I'd want to point out that my choices - as with all my draft choices - are looking to be interesting, less-trodden-path-style selections, as well as good players. Nonetheless they are all good, even great, players.

1. Glenn Turner

41 Tests. 2991 at 44.64. 7 hundreds/14 fifties. Best 259.

"In two senses the most professional cricketer ever produced by New Zealand, Glenn Turner made himself a household name throughout the cricket world" Turner is the only New Zealander with the coveted achievement of scoring 100 first class centuries during an epic career that spanned 1964-1983. CMJ wrote "Turner was an immaculately straight-playing opener, who defended with a solidity of technique few contemporaries matched." He averaged over 49 against Australia, and over 65 against the West Indies (and over 90 in the West Indies), with two hundreds against each. The two hundreds against WI were both doubles, and made against Sobers, Holder and Gibbs. He made a ton against India in India, and a ton against Pakistan in Pakistan.

2. Sid Barnes

13 Tests. 1072 runs at 63.05. 3 hundreds/5 fifties. Best 234.

A bizarre character and fine cricketer, with a Test average over 60 and an average as an opener of over 71. His best of 234 was overshadowed by Bradmans own exact same score, but they established a new fifth-wicket Test partnership record of 405. Wisden's stiff upper lip didn't seem to find it dignified to lavish any kind of praise upon him in that years Almanack, and his bravery at short-leg was so fierce that in the same stiff-lipped era he was criticised for what would now be hailed as competitive play. "His second English tour was in 1948, when he stood second in the Australian Test batting figures with an average of 82.25 and in all first-class matches put together an aggregate of 1,354, including three centuries, average 56.41."

3. Basil Butcher

44 Tests. 3104 runs at 43.11. 7 hundreds/16 fifties. Best 209*.

"A supple, wristy, resolute batsman.... on the 1963 tour of England he made 383 runs in eight completed innings, including 133 out of 229 in the memorable draw at Lord's. During an interval in that match he opened a letter which advised him that (against a background of civil war) his wife had had a miscarriage back home in Guyana. Very upset, Butcher continued to play a solid and masterly innings which saved his side." 32 Tests away, and only 12 at home. He averaged 46.41 away from home, showing that he was a tough batsman and possessed an adaptability that I can make use of at number three. his performances in English conditions should excite raja, in that he saved his best for them including 209* as his best score.

4. Murray Goodwin

19 Tests. 1414 runs at 42.84. 3 hundreds/8 fifties. Best 166*.

Forum members will have to make a leap of faith to accept that Goodwin, with little international exposure, it worthy of being the centre piece of my batting line-up. But we are talking about a man who took every chance he got at Test level averaging over 42, and scoring 22,000 runs in foreign conditions in Australia and England in his never-ending domestic career. He was just shaping up in 2000 with two hundreds in four Tests when injury, and family issues, snatched him from the international scene. He took Pakistan apart in 1998 with 166 at a SR above 80.00; and he scored it off Waqar, Akhtar, and Saqlain Mushtaq after coming in at 15/2. He took 113 of the West Indies in their home ground in Kingston off Ambrose and Walsh coming in at 1/5. He scored 148 off Gough, Caddick and Flintoff when the score was 1/1 when he walked to the crease. A man for a crisis, and a man to smack around the attack once the crisis passes.

5. Darren Lehmann

27 Tests. 1798 runs at 44.95. 5 hundreds/10 fifties. Best of 177.

With recent coaching activities, you might have to turn your mind back a way to recall that Lehmann stroked his way to 1798 runs in his 27 Tests at the healthiest average of 45. Appearances were few not because he lacked the talent, but because he was constantly forcing his way into a team full of stars. He spent the rest of the time murdering county attacks with a domestic average of 57.83. 82 FC centuries. Touring the West Indies yielded 353 runs from only four matches, Sri Lanka brought 375 at over 62, and in fact he struggled at home compared to his away average of a shade under 50. In the final two years of his Test career he averaged over 60.00 with five hundreds, but it wasn't enough to displace some of the existing Test batsmen. Waugh got the best out of him, and he averaged again over 63 in the ten Tests Lehmann played under him.

6. Farokh Engineer (wk)

46 Tests. 2611 runs at 31.08. 2 hundreds/16 fifties. Best of 121.

Engineer takes my keepers gloves, an agile keeper with 82 dismissals. Capable with the bat, with two hundreds at home against England and the West Indies, he contributed regular half-centuries including eight against England. He sent on their way nearly 830 batsmen in his career for India, Lancashire and Mumbai, and he kept to Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan. The highlight of his career with the bat? 94 before lunch on Day 1 against Griffith, Sobers, Gibbs and Wes Hall. Solid, reliable, and proven.

The big ship, larger than life Armstrong bestrode the cricketing world for the first twenty years of the 20th Century. Apart from 8 Tests (and an average of 58) he played his cricket against England, and scored 2172 runs against them at 35 and 74 of his wickets at 30.91. He loved bowling in England more than anywhere, taking his averaged under 30 which playing there. And in domestic cricket he scored 16,000 runs and averaged 46.83 with the bat, and took 832 wickets at 19.71 with the ball. These averages rival WG Grace in the Parthenon of all-rounders in the golden ages of cricket past. The captaincy easily brought the best out of his batting (avg 56) and bowling (avg 24) and he led Australia to eight consecutive Test victories against England, so he takes my skippers role as a man who leads from the front with bat and ball and had the stamina to play all three roles at once.

8. Jim Laker

46 Tests. 193 wickets at 21.24. 9 five-fors, 3 ten-fors.

Laker needs no introduction. The man ate Australians for breakfast (79 from 15 matches at 18.27) and he munched on New Zealanders, Pakistanis, South Africans - he averaged under 19.50 against every Test nation apart from India (23.62) and the West Indies (30.41). 19/90 is a figure that roams large in cricket consciousness even today. Enough said.

9. Fazal Mahmood

34 Tests. 139 wickets at 24.70. 13 five-fors, 4 ten-fors.

Pakistans first great bowler, and a workhorse who cared for his fitness rigorously, Mahmood was a sublime swing bowler. He scoured 24 wickets in only 3 matches against Australia, and ruled the roost in Pakistan with 65 of his scapls coming at 18.13. "He was the torch-bearer," said his modern counterpart Shoaib Akhtar, and he averaged 18 with the ball in domestic cricket.

10. Angus Fraser

46 Tests. 177 wickets at 27.32. 13 five-fors, 2 ten-fors.

Some here might think the sweaty, creaking, un-athletic looking Fraser a poor selection, but he's up there with among the best wicket hauls for 50 Tests or under, and was the most consistent England bowler in the midst of the disasterous 1990s. "Fraser was a classically English seamer, landing ball after ball outside off stump and brilliantly exploiting even the slightest hint of uneven bounce" and he carved through the West Indies while they were still a force - 70 wickets at 23.70. He took 46 wickets at 30 against Australia, and maintained a 32 average down under, which for an English man in the 1990s is somewhat Bradmanesque. His final year was his most prolific, with 58 wickets at 22.87, showing that had injury and the dimwitted selection policy of Raymond-idiot-Illingworth not existed, he would have been one of Englands top wicket takers.

11. Fred Spofforth

18 Tests. 94 wickets at 18.41. 7 five-fors, 4 ten-fors.

The demon. Even among his contemporaries on poor wickets and lower bowling averages, Spofforth was a cut above. Australia's first real paceman, with 853 wickets at 14.95 in domestic cricket, he played all his cricket against England and was the first player to take a Test hat-trick, and his 14/90 was the best figures by an Australian between 1882 and 1972. Fanatical about his fitness, he out-bowled his teammates and walked into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in its inaugural line-up.

Teds plan was to get us to review eachothers, person under each person on the table...

Thanks guys for running with this whilst I've been away.

I'm writing up a review of Rajas team just now. I'm thinking we do another review thread maybe? I'll post something in the next couple days that hopefully gives everyone an idea of the format we could do.